Shama Rasal — Head of Design

Most startups treat design as execution. THE MOST IMPACTFUL COMPANIES USE DESIGN AS A STRATEGY. That difference quietly determines whether product growth feels effortless — or increasingly complex. For over a decade, I’ve worked at the intersection of design, product thinking, and startup growth. I currently mentor founders inside the Google for Startups ecosystem, where I help early and growth-stage startups use design as a decision-making tool, not just a delivery function. Across my career I’ve worked inside global technology companies, research organisations, public impact initiatives and promising new companies. These experiences exposed a consistent truth. GREAT PRODUCTS ARE RARELY ACCIDENTS. They emerge when user insight, product strategy, and design thinking align. Today I work as a Strategic Design Partner for growth-stage startups. I help founders and product teams: • Understand their customers better • Clarify product direction through user insight • Identify hidden design debt slowing growth • Align product, design, and business decisions • Build design foundations that scale with the company My work is especially valuable for startups that: • Have product-market fit but feel product complexity increasing • Want design to influence strategy — not just UI • Want to bring efficiency in the way they design • Are preparing for the next stage of scale IF YOU ARE A FOUNDER... and you’re wondering whether design could be compounding your growth instead of slowing it down, we should talk. Book a short diagnostic conversation: 👉 https://topmate.io/shama MENTORING DESIGNERS Alongside startup consulting, I also mentor designers preparing for UX leadership roles and professionals transitioning into design. Because the next generation of design leaders matters.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic design consultant specializing in user-centered design for startups and social impact initiatives.

Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Experience: 12 yrs 11 mos

Skills

Design Mentoring
Strategy
Product Strategy
Design Leadership
Coaching & Mentoring
Design Thinking
Ux Research
Stakeholder Management

Career Highlights

Over a decade of experience in design and product strategy.
Mentors founders in the Google for Startups ecosystem.
Expert in aligning design with business growth strategies.

Work Experience

SRR Inc

Strategic Design Consultant (5 yrs)

Foundation for Rural Entrepreneurship Development (FREND)

Consulting Design Specialist & Mentor (9 mos)

Entrepreneur First

Entrepreneurship Fellow (3 mos)

E-Health Research Center, IIIT, Bangalore

Design Specialist (10 mos)

Springboard

UX Mentor (10 yrs 2 mos)

Tally Solutions Pvt Ltd

UX Head (2 yrs 4 mos)

Google

Design/ UX Mentor for Google Launchpad (Startup Accelertor) (11 yrs 3 mos)

Adobe Systems India

Lead Experience Designer (4 mos)

Nokia

Senior UX Designer (4 yrs 11 mos)

SAP Labs

Principal UX Designer (1 yr 7 mos)

Hitachi Design Division

Research Scholar (5 mos)

Kanbay

User Experience Consultant (5 mos)

Cordys R&D

Usability Engineer (3 yrs 4 mos)

Education

M. Des. at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

MIT Innovation & Enterprenuership Bootcamp at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) at Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University

Shama Rasal

Head of Design

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12 yrs 11 mos experience

Highly Stable

Key Highlights

Over a decade of experience in design and product strategy.
Mentors founders in the Google for Startups ecosystem.
Expert in aligning design with business growth strategies.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a strategic design consultant specializing in user-centered design for startups and social impact initiatives.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Design MentoringStrategyProduct StrategyDesign LeadershipCoaching & MentoringDesign ThinkingUx ResearchStakeholder Management

Other Skills

Design DirectionProblem SolvingCustomer JourneysStart-up ConsultingBig-Picture ThinkingLeadershipTeam ManagementStrategic RoadmapsTeam LeadershipDesign SystemDesign StandardizationContextual InquiryUser PersonasCommunicationCreativity and Innovation

About

Experience

12 yrs 11 mos

Total Experience

2 yrs 1 mo

Average Tenure

Current Experience

Srr inc

Strategic Design Consultant

May 2021 – Present · 5 yrs · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India · Hybrid

Strategic design partner for startups and mission-driven organisations seeking to use user-centred design as a growth strategy.
My work focuses on assisting teams in moving beyond surface-level design execution and establishing product clarity, user understanding, and scalable design foundations.
Typical areas of engagement are:
Understanding the ICP
Clarifying product direction
Identifying and resolving design debt when scaling products
Aligning product, design, and business decision-making
Establishing scalable design frameworks and systems
I bring perspectives shaped by two decades of product design leadership, global technology companies, and a decade of mentoring founders in the Google for Startups accelerator ecosystem.
Currently accepting select consulting engagements with growth-stage startups worldwide.

Start-up ConsultingBig-Picture ThinkingLeadershipTeam ManagementDesign DirectionDesign Leadership+9

Foundation for rural entrepreneurship development (frend)

Consulting Design Specialist & Mentor

Sep 2019 – Jun 2020 · 9 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka · On-site

Led UX research and product design efforts for digital initiatives supporting the Internet Saathi programme, which aimed at empowering rural women with livelihoods through mobile phones.
Focused on creating digital experiences that are accessible, understandable, and useful to first-time internet users in rural India. Designing for “Next Billion Users”.

Start-up ConsultingTeam ManagementDesign DirectionDesign LeadershipCustomer JourneysUX Research+1

Entrepreneur first

Entrepreneurship Fellow

Jan 2019 – Apr 2019 · 3 mos · Bengaluru Area, India

Entrepreneur First is the world’s leading talent investor. EF helps aspiring entrepreneurs find a co-founder, develop an idea, and start a company.
One of the participants EF's first Bangalore cohort.

Customer Journeys

E-health research center, iiit, bangalore

Design Specialist

Oct 2018 – Aug 2019 · 10 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka · On-site

Led the design strategy for the Mental Health Management System (MHMS) developed with IIIT Bangalore and NIMHANS.
MHMS supports implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 and enables digital coordination across India's public mental health ecosystem.
Key contributions:
Ecosystem research across public healthcare stakeholders.
Definition of key personas and workflows.
Design of patient management and medical record systems.
Establishment of design language for the platform.
Hired a junior designer and set up the design execution process for the project.

Start-up ConsultingTeam ManagementDesign ThinkingCustomer JourneysUX ResearchTeam Leadership

Springboard

UX Mentor

Mar 2016 – Present · 10 yrs 2 mos · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India · Remote

Mentoring learners transitioning into UX careers. Designing personalized learning paths and career strategies to help them succeed faster.

Big-Picture ThinkingLeadershipCoaching & MentoringDesign ThinkingProblem SolvingCustomer Journeys+1

Tally solutions pvt ltd

UX Head

Apr 2015 – Aug 2017 · 2 yrs 4 mos · Bengaluru Area, India · On-site

Set up design function in a market leading product organisation.
Led product design initiatives focused on improving usability and product experience for millions of businesses using Tally.

LeadershipTeam ManagementDesign LeadershipCustomer JourneysUX ResearchTeam Leadership+1

Google

Design/ UX Mentor for Google Launchpad (Startup Accelertor)

Feb 2015 – Present · 11 yrs 3 mos · Bengaluru Area, India · On-site

Mentor product teams and founders selected for the Google for Startups accelerator programme.
Collaborate with startups from various industries to help them:
Diagnostics: Finding out what the start-up needs most to accelerate its growth.
Clarify users' problems and product positioning.
Translate user insights into product decisions.
Identify product friction that impacts growth.
Improve product experience with strategic design thinking.
Over the last decade, I've assisted numerous founders with early and growth-stage product challenges.
This exposure provides a unique vantage point into how successful startups use design strategically as they scale.

Design DirectionProblem SolvingCustomer JourneysDesign MentoringStrategy

Adobe systems india

Lead Experience Designer

Dec 2014 – Apr 2015 · 4 mos · Bangalore, India

Led designing of Android apps for Adobe Capture (Shape & Color apps). Adobe Capture app enables content creation using mobile phones.

Team ManagementDesign LeadershipTeam Leadership

Nokia

Senior UX Designer

Dec 2009 – Nov 2014 · 4 yrs 11 mos · Bangalore, India · On-site

Worked on multiple global product initiatives, including Nokia Life Tools and Nearby.
Responsibilities included:
Designing mobile services for emerging markets.
Leading distributed design collaboration across global teams.
Product experience strategy and UX research.
Filed a patent related to payments on dual-SIM devices.

Team ManagementUX ResearchTeam Leadership

Sap labs

Principal UX Designer

May 2008 – Dec 2009 · 1 yr 7 mos · Bangalore, India · On-site

Worked within the Research & Breakthrough Innovation group, designing enterprise software experiences for business configuration and human capital management products.

UX Research

Hitachi design division

Research Scholar

Jul 2007 – Dec 2007 · 5 mos · Tokyo, Japan

One of 3 The Hindu-Hitachi Research Scholars selected from across India in 2007. Designed a product concept for Japanese market. The product was a smart handheld device used by people for interacting, monitoring and aggregating data from various devices they use in their daily lives. Project included Industrial as well as product design.

Design ThinkingDesign SystemDesign Standardization

Kanbay

User Experience Consultant

Jan 2007 – Jun 2007 · 5 mos · Hyderabad Area, India · On-site

Handled multiple short projects. One noteworthy project was conducting research for HSBC, evaluating softwares used in the call centres in India and Malaysia.

UX Research